1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with a light-weight organizing device usable in operating rooms, post-operative wards and in transporting critical patents throughout health care systems for maintaining proper organization and labeling of various multiple patient care lines such as transducer housings and intravenous infusion lines. More particularly, the invention pertains to such an organizing device including an elongated rigid body, preferably of length to span the distance between upstanding side rails of a conventional hospital bed or transportation gurney, with the body having a base plate supporting spaced apart, upstanding wall sections with line-receiving openings therebetween; the openings are configured for releasably and frictionally retaining therein differently configured patient care lines without interruption of IV flow or data readings, with the latter extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the body. In order to enable and insure proper level orientation, balancing and calibration of the transducer lines upon arrival in the post-care unit, a central indicator is preferably provided on the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hospital anesthesia, recovery and critical care staffs are often confronted with the problem of properly organizing and labeling relatively large numbers of patient care lines secured to a patient undergoing major surgery and recovery. Such patient care lines would normally include one or more transducers and intravenous infusion lines. For example, during transport of a patient from an operating room, recovery ward, critical care unit or throughout health care systems, the patient's condition may warrant adjustments in infusion rates of life-supporting medications, and it is important that these critical adjustments be made both accurately, correctly and in a timely way. In the present situation, however, the plural patient care lines can easily become tangled and disconnected possibly interrupting a life-supporting medication infusion which is very difficult or impossible to quickly and accurately locate and adjust, particularly during patient transfer.
In addition, whenever transducers are used, part of the setup procedure is to balance and calibrate the transducer lines, so that oscilloscope readings are accurate. This requires that the practitioner have an available leveling device to insure that the transducers are level with the mid-axillary line [phlebostatic axis]. Experience has proved that it is difficult to keep these leveling devices in each room or otherwise handy, and as a result they become difficult to locate when needed. Leveling devices are known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,845), but these provide no aid in organizing and labeling the many and easily tangled patient care lines incidental to anesthesia, major operations, and recovery.